CHAPTER 2: Sympathy
Death can bring many changes. Some of them, though, you'd never see coming.
As the darkness enveloped me, I felt something else.
My demon half was being stripped away from me, despite the fact that it had just been another facet of my magical ability.
As the separation completed, I suddenly felt warmth, and I was bathed in white light. I looked around, but I could see no one. Time was meaningless, but I felt power, vast amounts of it, gathering around me. Eventually, I became aware of other presences.
GREETINGS, MICHAEL SMITH, said several voices in unison.
Who are you? I asked.
WE ARE THE POWERS THAT BE, came the answer. WE ARE THE HIGHEST BEINGS ON THE SIDE OF GOOD, SECOND ONLY TO GOD.
What do you want with me?
HAVING FOUGHT THE GREATEST EVIL, AND IN YOUR SACRIFICE RESTORED THE POWER OF THREE, WE HAVE DECIDED TO REWARD YOU, the Powers continued. YOU MAY MOVE ON INTO THE AFTERLIFE, OR YOU MAY BECOME A CHAMPION OF GOOD ONCE AGAIN. WE WILL INCREASE YOUR POWERS A HUNDREDFOLD, AND MAKE YOU INVINCIBLE. WHAT SAY YOU?
I took less than a second to consider. If the Powers brought me back, it would give me the chance to be with Phoebe again. I choose to remain in the service of Good, I replied.
VERY WELL, the Powers replied. Suddenly, the magical energy that had been surrounding me began to enter my body. I could feel the power rising in me, and I felt that I could jump to the moon if I so desired. As the last of the power entered me, the Powers spoke one last time. IT IS DONE. MICHAEL SMITH, YOU ARE HEREBY DESIGNATED GUARDIAN OF LIFE. GOOD LUCK. With that, the light faded, and I found myself standing in my mansion.
I quickly turned on the TV, and was shocked to see the date listed as November 3. I couldn't believe it. I'd been gone for six months. Who knew what could have happened in that time?
I gasped as I felt the first of my new powers. I was now linked to every lifeforce on Earth, and I could focus on any one of them at will and know everything about them. As I suspected, the strongest I could feel was Phoebe's. Focusing on her, I found that she was in public, at P3 to be exact, so I couldn't just appear there, assuming I still had a teleportation ability. I ran to the garage and hopped into my Corvette.
I arrived at P3 about ten minutes later. As I walked down the stairs, I was surprised to see Phoebe sitting at a booth with another guy. I felt a pang of jealousy, but quickly suppressed it. I hadn't been there in months, so how should Phoebe have known any differently? Before I could lose my nerve, I quickly walked over to the booth. I knew the exact moment that Phoebe saw me. Her face completely drained of color, and her mouth dropped open in shock. The guy turned around to look at me.
Putting a lopsided smile on my face, I said, "Told you I'd be back."
"Is this your ex?" the guy said with a scowl.
"No, Miles," Phoebe said in a cracked voice as she managed to regain her wits. "Excuse me," she said to him, standing up. Grabbing my arm, she pulled me off to the side and out of view. Before I could say a word, Phoebe flung her arms around me and kissed me with what I'm sure was as much passion as she was capable of.
I felt her tears running down her cheeks, and I pulled back and wiped them away with my thumbs. "Shhh, it's ok," I said.
"You died in my arms," she sobbed. "You died...and then your body orbed out on its own. We never figured out what happened." She rested her head against my chest. "How are you here?"
"It's a long story," I said, "but it's for real, no doubt about that."
"Phoebe?" said Piper's voice. "Miles said that you were..." She trailed off as she saw me. "Oh my God..."
"I have a feeling I'm going to be getting a lot of that tonight," I said. Phoebe playfully slapped my arm. Sensing Piper's anxiety, I asked, "What's wrong?"
"We've got a situation," Piper explained. She turned, and we followed her back to her office. As we first walked in, I noticed Leo and Paige. However, I ignored their shocked gasps as I saw the third person in the room.
"Oh, you've got to be kidding me," I said as I stared at Cole.
"Look who's talking," Cole retorted.
That just pissed me off. Before I even knew what I was doing, a white, Source-style fireball had left my hand and slammed Cole into the wall. While Cole got to his feet, everyone else stared at me in shock, while I gave a curious look to my hand. "That was...unexpected," I said sheepishly.
Cole brushed himself off and smirked at me. "You got stronger. Well, so did I." Cole flung an energy ball at me. It knocked me back a few feet, but I was unharmed. I started to conjure another fireball, when Paige yelled, "HOLD IT!"
Cole and I glared at each other, but let our respective magical weapons dissipate. "You two can battle to the death later," Paige continued, glaring at me. "Right now, Cole needs our help."
"WHAT!" Phoebe and I exclaimed.
"Desperate demons call for desperate measures," Piper said sagaciously.
Cole had managed to calm himself down, and said, "I think someone's been trying to drive me crazy."
"That makes two of us," Phoebe muttered. I made a mental note to ask her about Cole later on.
Cole told us about the strange visions he'd been having, how he'd seen people appear to him as demons. Suddenly, I felt a chill and shivered.
"Michael, are you alright?" Phoebe questioned nervously.
"No," I answered. "I sense something...cold...evil. I don't know what it is, but it's not good."
Phoebe nodded, and then cocked her head, as though listening to something.
"Are you listening to me?" Cole asked impatiently.
"Yeah," Phoebe growled. "But Cole, I'm not going to allow you to drag me back into your evil world."
"I need to figure out what's going on before someone gets hurt," Cole insisted.
"How do I know this isn't another one of your tricks to get me back?" Phoebe countered.
"My tricks...?" Cole repeated incredulously. At that moment, I suddenly felt the evil vanish. "This is no trick. I'm seriously afraid of what I might do and I'm begging for your help."
"I'm sorry Cole, I can't," Phoebe said sadly. "I have to draw the line sometime and I'm going to draw it right now."
Cole frowned for a moment before blurring out.
"Listen, far be it for me to take his side, but what if he's actually telling the truth?" Paige commented.
"I agree," Piper added. "If there's a demon out there powerful enough to mess with Cole's mind..."
"Then it's his problem," Phoebe interrupted. "It's not ours and it's not mine anymore." Turning to me, she said, "Can we talk?"
"Of course, but what about your date?" I asked with a pang of pain in my voice.
"I think he can wait a bit longer," Phoebe said, looking away from me.
We were silent for a couple of moments before we turned to each other and asked at the same time, "So what did you...?" We both laughed.
"You go first," Phoebe said.
I sighed. "How did Cole manage to get back?"
The light in Phoebe's eyes faded. Cole was clearly a difficult subject for her at the time. "Cole managed to hold on in the Wasteland. The fact that he was half-human, combined with the fact that he still loved me, kept him from being devoured. Somehow, he started absorbing the powers of other vanquished demons. After a while, he came back for good, but not before becoming the most powerful demon I've ever encountered." She paused, collecting herself. "How did you manage to get back?"
"When I...vanished, a group of beings called the Powers That Be intervened," I started. "They gave me a choice: I could either move on into the Afterlife, or they'd resurrect me and make me a powerful agent of Good. Naturally, I chose the second choice."
"Why?" Phoebe asked, although I could feel that she already knew the answer.
"Because it was the only way to be with you," I said.
Phoebe said nothing and looked away again. I wondered if I pressed too hard. After another minute of uncomfortable silence, we turned back to each other and said the other's name at the same time. I sighed. "I won't push, Phoebe. I'll wait."
Phoebe hesitated for a moment before replying, "I want to be with you, believe me, I really do...it's just..." She trailed off.
I picked up on her words. "I understand," I said solemnly. "Nothing in life is ever easy. If it were always so, nothing in life would be worth anything...including love."
Phoebe nodded, and sighed sadly. "I should get back to Miles," she said.
"Yeah," I said, doing my best to hide the sadness in my voice.
Phoebe reached up and caressed my cheek for a moment before turning away and walking back to the booth.
"Damn it," I hissed under my breath. I turned to see Piper and Paige staring at me. I slowly walked over to them, my disappointment all too evident.
"I'd guess since Phoebe is sitting with Miles, that means things didn't go well for you?" Piper remarked.
"That's putting it mildly," I groaned. "Then again, I probably should have been expecting this. It has been six months after all." I paused a moment. "I told her I'd give her time to sort things out before we talk about the possibility of being together."
"If only Cole could have been as reasonable as you," Piper muttered.
"Speaking of Cole, now what?" Paige said. "We can't just sit around here doing nothing."
"No," Piper agreed, "unfortunately, Cole is really powerful and if some demon is trying to manipulate him..." Piper trailed off. At that moment, I felt the chilling evil presence again.
"Hello? You were saying?" Paige pressed.
"On second thought, maybe we should just let it go," Piper remarked. As Piper spoke, the presence vanished.
"Let it go?" Paige asked incredulously.
"Yeah, it wouldn't be the first time Cole's been less than honest with us," Piper pointed out. "Maybe Phoebe's right, it's not really our problem."
"Yeah, it's not our problem until he hurts us," Paige reminded her with annoyance.
"True," Piper remarked. At that moment, I felt the evil rise again. "But then again, why should we trust him? He's brought us nothing but misery in the past." Again, as Piper finished speaking, the evil presence faded.
"What is wrong with you?" Paige demanded. "Is this Dr. Jekyll or Mr. Piper? Make up your mind, lady."
"Look," Piper said, exasperated, "all I know is that the more I think about it, the more I agree with Phoebe. We don't need to go looking for trouble; trouble comes to find us anyway."
"But..." Paige started.
"Paige, look, two against one, ok?" Piper said, ending the conversation. She then turned and walked away.
"That was weird," I remarked.
"Yeah, tell me about it," Paige said. "I've never known Piper to be so fickle."
"Hmmm..." I said. "You know, I felt that evil presence again. The weird thing was it kept on coming in after Piper agreed with you, and disappeared after she changed her mind."
"You think something made Piper keep on changing her mind?" Paige suggested.
"It's possible, but it's definitely probable that it has something to do with what's happening with Cole," I commented. Looking down at my watch I added, "Look, I'm going to go. Tell Phoebe I'll call her, ok?"
"Sure," Paige said. As I turned to leave, I Paige added, "It's good to have you back."
"Thanks," I said with a half-smile. Tearing myself away from watching Phoebe at her booth, I went back up the stairs, outside...to misery.
After I got back home, I spent a couple of hours mulling over things trying to figure out what was going on. Suddenly, I felt an icy chill run up and down my spine.
Something was very, very wrong...
Without thinking, I focused on the disturbance. The world dissolved in a wall of white flames. When I materialized, I found myself in Cole's penthouse, looking at a prostrated Cole, a shocked Paige, and...
"Oh, no..." I said in disbelief.
"Barbas..." Cole said softly.
Noticing the demon for the first time, Paige quickly ran to protect Cole. "Who's Barbas?" she asked.
"The Demon of Fear," Cole and I replied simulatenously.
"Oh, I'm so much more than that now," Barbas said smugly. I saw Cole gesture to conjure an energy ball, but to my utter shock, nothing happened. "Looking for this?" Barbas said with a sneer, forming an energy ball. Before I could react, he'd thrown it and sent Cole sailing into one of the penthouse balcony doors. "Ooh, very cool powers," Barbas remarked. Paige and I ran to check on Cole. "I can hardly wait until I have full control over them. Paige, thank you so much for setting me free. Your sisters will be so proud of you," Barbas said with a snigger.
Finally regaining my wits, I threw a fireball at Barbas, but he blurred out just before it would hit him. "Damn it!" I cursed.
"Cole's hurt bad," Paige said, pressing her fingers to his neck.
"I'll take him," I said, lifting Cole's prone form onto my shoulders. Focusing on the Manor, I flamed out, sensing Paige's orb trail right behind me.
We materialized in the conservatory. "Piper, are you here?" Paige called.
Piper walked in a moment later. "Paige, where have you...oh, no..." she trailed off, seeing a bruised-up Cole.
"No time to explain just yet," Paige said. Turning to me, she said, "Michael, can you go to P3 and get Phoebe?"
"Sure, no problem," I said. I thought of a darkened corner of the club, and flamed to it. I materialized to see Phoebe and Miles still at their both, talking. I quickly walked over.
Phoebe cut herself off in mid-sentence upon seeing my distraught look. "What's wrong?" she asked anxiously.
"Emergency," I said with a wink, implying that magic was involved.
Phoebe groaned. Turning to Miles, she said, "Sorry about this. I'll call you, ok?"
"Sure," Miles said, laying down money for the drinks. "Excuse us," Miles said pointedly to me. I glared before turning away. Still, I caught the reflection of him kissing Phoebe in one of the overhead panels, and tried not to puke.
After Miles left us alone, Phoebe said, "So, what's going on?"
"You're not going to like it," I said, leading her back to the darkened corner.
"What are we doing over here?" she asked, confused. "And how did you get here anyway?"
"Like this," I said with a slight grin. I flamed us out before Phoebe could comment. As soon as we materialized, though, Phoebe pushed herself away from me, a frightened look on her face. "What's wrong?" I asked.
"You...you flamed?!?" Phoebe shouted in disbelief.
"Um, yeah," I said, not understanding what she was afraid of. "I actually wasn't sure if I was even going to have a transportation power." Noticing that she was backing away from me, I said, "What's wrong?"
"I knew it was too good to be true," Phoebe said coldly. "You're Michael's demonic half, aren't you? Thought you could fool me, did you?"
"Phoebe, what the hell are you talking about?" I exploded. I couldn't understand why she was being so irrational.
"Flaming was a power that belonged to the Source," Phoebe hissed. "Somehow you must have picked it up from Cole when he got vanquished."
"This is crazy, Phoebe," I said, shaking my head. She opened her mouth to speak again, but Leo orbed in at that moment.
"Michael, Phoebe...what's going on?" he asked warily, noticing the tension.
"Phoebe thinks I'm a demon. Otherwise, everything's peachy," I remarked in annoyance.
"She thinks what?" Leo stated incredulously. Turning to Phoebe, he continued, "Phoebe, I just got back from talking with the Elders, and they confirmed my suspicions about Michael's powers..."
"So, he is a demon?" she said, glaring at me.
"No, Phoebe," Leo said firmly. "Michael is the Guardian of Life. He was assigned his position by the Powers That Be. They outrank the Elders, Phoebe. There is only one Being on the side of Good that is higher than they are."
Phoebe swallowed, an embarrassed flush coming to her cheeks. Turning to me, she said, "I'm sorry. It's just a little disconcerting to see you with that much power, especially that power, considering..."
"I know," I interrupted. "Look, we can talk about this later. Right now, we have more pressing issues to deal with." I pointed to the conservatory. As we walked in, I knew things were about to get very ugly between the sisters.
"So what was the demon's name?" I heard Piper say as we walked in to the room.
"Barbas," Paige answered. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Phoebe go pale with shock.
"Barbas...?" Piper repeated in shock. "I can't believe this...you couldn't have brought back Andras or Shax or somebody we could actually vanquish?"
"Ok, heal now, yell later," Paige said, noticing Leo's presence. "Cole's injured."
"Leo can't heal evil," Phoebe spat.
As Phoebe finished speaking, I focused on Cole's lifeforce. My eyes widened in shock. "I don't believe it," I said. "He's human...completely, 100% human, no demonic aftertaste whatsoever." I walked over toward Cole.
Paige smiled slightly. "I knew it. The potion worked; I stripped him of his demonic powers."
"And gave them to Barbas," Piper reminded her.
As I put my hand over Cole's neck to check his pulse, a white light suddenly sprang forth. "What the hell?" I stated dumbly, my voice soft. "Talk about powers up to wazhoo..." Only Leo had noticed what had happened, and he smiled reassuringly. The girls, however, had not yet noticed.
"Listen, I really don't need a lecture right now," Paige said.
"No, you really do, because you have no idea what you've done and now we have a serious problem," Piper countered.
"Um, guys," I interrupted. The others turned to see the healing light fade, and Cole opened his eyes. "Welcome back," I said with a smirk.
"I'm never going to live this down," Cole muttered as I helped him up. My smirk widened at his words.
"Great, he's not evil," Piper remarked dismissively, "but we've still got a problem."
"What happened?" Cole asked, rubbing his head.
"What happened is the worst demon we've ever faced tricked you and Paige into freeing him and now he has your powers," Phoebe said coldly. Evidently, even without his powers, Cole's presence disgusted her.
"I'm really sorry," Paige apologized.
"I think we should give Paige a break," Leo advised. "She was just acting on her instincts."
"I agree," I added. I ignored the glare I received from Phoebe. I was still a little upset with her for lashing out at me.
"Paige, we know you're really sorry and it's not the fact that you screwed up that we're upset about," Piper said gently. "It's the fact that you didn't listen to us."
"We've just had a lot more experience than you do," Phoebe added. "We've been at this a lot longer."
"Holy shit," I said, smacking my forehead. "I can't believe I didn't put the pieces together before now." Seeing the others' confused looks, I continued, "You remember that evil presence I kept on feeling? I think that was Barbas. He manipulated all of you to get Paige to strip Cole's powers."
"Astral projection," Cole suggested. "That's the only way he could have done it from Purgatory."
"I agree," Leo said.
"Alright, so, what does this Barbas do? What's his thing?" Paige asked.
"He brings really bad things to life," Piper explained.
"Your worst fears to be exact," Leo added.
"And who know what we can expect now that he has Cole's demonic energy," Phoebe reminded.
"I'll do everything in my power to help you guys fight him," Cole offered. Although I still didn't like the guy all that much, I was surprised to find that he was genuinely offering his help.
"Well, unfortunately, anything in your power right now isn't a whole hell of a lot," Piper pointed out.
"But I'm the only one who knows how my powers work, how he might use them," Cole remarked.
"He's got a point," Leo pointed out.
"Besides," I interjected, "you still do have one super-powerful being here to back you up, remember?"
"True," Paige remarked. "I guess the obvious question is what he's going to next."
"Get even, what else?" Phoebe said impatiently.
"Actually, I'm a little worried he didn't try to do that already," Cole commented. I picked up on Cole's subtext instantly.
The others, however, did not. "That's funny. That didn't occur to me as something to worry about," Piper said grudgingly.
"Well, if I'm right, you've got bigger problems," Cole countered, not backing down. "If he gains control of my powers he may try to use them to reorganize the Underworld, become the next Source. You have to get to him before he does, or he'll be impossible to stop."
After about fifteen minutes of searching through various texts, we weren't much closer to finding a sure way to take out Barbas. "There has to be a vanquish for him in here somewhere," Paige insisted.
"We've never been able to vanquish him, just neutralize him," Phoebe remarked.
"Actually, we didn't," Piper remarked. "Prue did."
"Well, maybe you can just do whatever Prue did to banish him last time," Paige suggested.
Phoebe sighed and said, "It won't work."
"Prue didn't banish him with a spell," Leo mentioned. "She banished him by conquering her fears."
"Conquering fears isn't going to vanquish him anymore anyway, not with my powers inside him," Cole pointed out shrewdly.
"If it came down to it, I probably could take him out myself," I remarked thoughtfully. "A few direct fireballs should do it."
"Last resort," Phoebe said, a hint of worry in her voice. I smiled, grateful that her earlier fear of me appeared to be dissipating.
"Phoebe, we don't even know if Barbas could prey on Michael's fears," Paige interjected cautiously.
Apparently, it wasn't cautious enough. Phoebe whirled on Paige, taking the Book of Shadows from her, saying, "Ok, you know what? Time's up. Let me look."
"Oh, ok," Paige said with a slight sniff. "Apparently, saying I'm sorry a hundred and twelve times didn't work. Maybe a hundred and thirteen...I'm sorry."
"Paige, I'm not trying to make you feel bad," Phoebe said in a softer tone. "It's just, you know, you pulled me away from my third date with Miles...a third date."
"Please, spare me," I groaned, wanting to discuss anything besides Miles. Phoebe winced, realizing what she had done.
"A hundred fourteen...I'm sorry," Paige said, her sadness evident.
I was about to intervene, when I received a surprise: Cole beat me to it.
"Shouldn't you guys give Paige a break?" Cole said sharply, glaring at Phoebe. "She had good intentions. That's got to count for something."
Giving Cole an amazed look, Paige said, "Thank you...I think."
"Where'd that come from?" Piper wondered, just as amazed.
"The only place it could: his heart. Cole's good now," Leo said firmly.
"Yeah, well, it doesn't change anything," Phoebe said immediately.
Cole would not be so easily subdued. "Doesn't it?" he countered. "You're the only one who's seen that side of me. It's the side you fell in love with."
"Please don't go there," Phoebe begged. I could tell that the conversation was unnerving her.
Fortunately, Piper managed to change the subject. "And more importantly, since you don't have any powers, maybe Leo should take you someplace safe."
"No, you'll need me to fight Barbas," Cole insisted.
"If Cole is good, doesn't that make him an innocent, and doesn't that mean that we need to protect him now?" Paige reasoned.
"Besides, like I said, I can handle Barbas if I have to," I reiterated.
"They're right, you should go," Phoebe said. Giving Cole an anxious look, she added, "Please." Cole obliged, taking Leo's hand, and the two orbed out together. As they did, I could visibly see some of the tension in Phoebe's shoulders leave. "Ok, well, there's nothing in here," Phoebe continued. "We're going to have to figure out a way to vanquish Barbas on our own."
"Well, we could use the crystal cage like we did with the Source," Piper reasoned. "They've got the same powers."
"Actually, that might work," Phoebe said. "We just have to find a way to get him here."
"I can write a spell," Paige offered.
"Well, that shouldn't be too hard," Piper remarked, ignoring Paige's suggestion. "All we have to do is remind him of how much he hates us and he should come running."
"I could modify the astral projection spell, and try to get him here," Phoebe suggested.
"I'll orb him," Paige said, trying again.
"Uh, no, Phoebe should go," Piper said, cutting Paige off.
Seeing the disappointed look on Paige's face, Phoebe hastily added, "Only because I've already overcome my deepest fear the last time Barbas attacked. He can't hurt me."
"What was your fear?" Paige asked curiously.
"Losing a sister," Phoebe remarked quietly.
The girls quickly prepared the crystals, and then Phoebe said the spell to astral project. While awaiting her return, I leaned down next to Paige and, making sure Piper wasn't watching, whispered, "They're just really stressed out. Trust me, when this is all over, they'll apologize."
"I hope so," Paige remarked.
Just then I heard Phoebe gasp as she returned to her body. "Incoming!" she quickly warned us. Barbas blurred into the circle a moment later.
"Paige," Piper signaled. Paige immediately set the fourth crystal in place, and the energy field leapt up.
"Got it," Paige confirmed.
"Prudence, Penelope, Patricia..." Phoebe began the Source vanquishing spell.
"Melinda, Astrid, Helen..." Piper chanted next.
"Laura and Grace..." Paige added. Together, they chanted:
Halliwell witches stand strong beside us
Vanquish this evil from time and
space
Barbas exploded a moment later. However, when the smoke cleared, to the girls' utter amazement, Barbas was still there.
"I guess you wanted me. Now you have me," he said with a grin. With a wave of his hand, the walls and windows bricked up. As he blurred out, Barbas added, "And now I've got you."
"Shit," I swore under my breath.
After checking the rest of the house, we came to the unfortunate conclusion that Barbas had sealed us in.
"We're trapped," Phoebe said anxiously.
"Like hell we are," Paige snapped. She tried to orb out, but only bounced off the walls. As she materialized, she added, "Ok, on second thought..."
"Leo!" Piper yelled.
"My guess is if I can't get out, he's not getting in," Paige said sadly.
"Can you flame?" Phoebe asked me.
"Already tried, same result," I said.
"Well, I can get out," Piper said confidently. She gestured at the wall, but nothing happened. Even though it was futile, I tried a fireball, but it was absorbed. "I can't get out. We can't get out!" Piper yelled.
"Ok, let's not panic because that's what Barbas wants us to do is panic, right?" Phoebe said.
"Why doesn't he just kill us and get it over with?" Paige complained.
"Because he wants us to suffer, that's why," Piper said grimly.
"A little mental torture," Phoebe added.
Suddenly, Paige turned toward the nursery and walked inside. "Guys...?"
"What's the matter?" Phoebe asked.
"Don't you see it?" Paige said. "The walls are moving in on me!" Paige ran for the nursery door, but it slammed shut. "Help, get me out of here!" Paige begged.
"Is she claustrophobic?" Piper wondered.
"I don't know, is she?" Phoebe said.
"Paige, it's just a hallucination," Piper reminded her.
"Yeah, honey, it's not real, you're ok," Phoebe chimed in. Suddenly, Piper began to scream. "What, what, what?" Phoebe questioned.
"Tarantulas...lots and lots of tarantulas," Piper said, backing away.
"No, there're no tarantulas," Phoebe quickly reminded her. "This isn't real. You're hallucinating, remember?" Suddenly, Phoebe turned her head toward the doorway.
"Miles?" she said incredulously.
"Phoebe, he isn't real," I quickly stated.
Phoebe backed away from the doorway in fear. "This isn't real, this isn't happening," she said almost as a litany.
"Come on, Phoebe, snap out of it!" I yelled. Suddenly, Phoebe punched the air in front of her, and then shook her head. "Are you back?"
"I think so," she said. "Ok, people time to get over your fears right now!"
"Easy for you to say, you're not facing killer spiders," Piper said fearfully.
"Neither are you," Phoebe insisted.
Piper brought her hand up to her shoulder as though to brush something off. She then stomped on the 'tarantula,' and shook her head a moment later. "Yuck," Piper groaned.
"Good girl," Phoebe complimented. Soon enough, they were able to talk Paige out of her fear, and she emerged from the nursery a moment later.
"He's not done," Piper said. "He can't be done. He's just playing with us."
"We need a plan," Phoebe said.
"Why don't I strip his powers like I stripped Cole's?" Paige suggested.
"I don't think that'll solve the problem," Piper commented. "Those powers are going to have to find a new demon home, unless...we give them back to Cole."
"No, no, we cannot give them back to Cole," Paige said vehemently.
"Why not, they're his," Phoebe said.
"No, he knows what it's like to be good now," Paige said. "Giving them back to him would be completely unfair and probably a death sentence."
"He's the only one who knows how to control them," Piper reminded her. "Anybody got any better ideas?" Not waiting for an answer, she continued, "Let's go make the potion." As we walked into the hallway, Leo suddenly orbed in, and he looked as though he'd been fighting.
"Leo, what happened?" Piper demanded, rushing to his side.
"Barbas...he attacked us," Leo groaned.
"What? Where?" Phoebe asked.
"Downstairs," Leo said. "I orbed in with Cole and the windows bricked over."
"You left him down there?" Piper questioned.
"Yeah, I came up for help," Leo answered. "Besides, Cole knows Barbas's powers so he can get away from him."
"Not for long," Paige muttered.
"We need him," Phoebe said.
"I'll go," I said. "You guys work on the potion."
"Do you think it's a good idea to split up?" Paige questioned. "What if that's exactly what Barbas wants?"
"Do we have a choice?" Phoebe asked crossly. I knew that cross tone all too well; she was really scared for me.
"Ok, let's go," I said. We split up into our various tasks. I walked downstairs and found Cole sitting in the solarium, looking somewhat the worse for wear. "Hey, Cole, how are you holding up?"
"Alright, I guess, considering everything," Cole said indistinctly.
"Don't worry, the girls are working on a plan to take care of Barbas once and for all," I said, not able to bring myself to tell him about the potion. Just then, I heard footsteps, and turned to see Phoebe walk into the room. "What's up?"
"I was wondering if I could talk to Cole for a minute," Phoebe said.
"Oh, sure," I said, getting up, figuring that Phoebe had decided to tell Cole about the potion.
As I walked into the conservatory, I heard Cole say, "I can't help but feel that this is all my fault. I should have realized who was behind this sooner. We wouldn't be in this situation, and..."
"Shhh," Phoebe soothed. "It'll be ok, Cole." I smiled, glad that Phoebe was able to warm up to Cole a little bit. A few moments, later, though, I heard a sound I definitely hadn't been expecting...the sound of kissing.
No way, I thought. I walked back into the solarium, and my mouth dropped open in shock. Sure enough, Phoebe was sitting on Cole's lap, kissing him passionately.
"Um, this is definitely not the time for this," I interrupted. Phoebe got off of Cole and both stood up, turning looks of contempt at me. "Why are you looking at me like that?" Without warning, Phoebe and Cole's eyes flamed and turned black for a moment before returning to the normal colors. "What the hell is going on?" I demanded.
"I finally realized my destiny, Michael," Phoebe said coldly. "My destiny is with Cole...with Evil...not with a pathetic loser like you. And, coincidentally," she continued, forming a fireball, "you're the only thing standing in the way of that."
"Phoebe, no, don't do this, not again," I pleaded. Even as I spoke, Phoebe released the fireball. It hit my chest and sent me flying into the wall, thankfully unharmed. As I got up, I felt a tickling in my mind. Something was definitely not right...
Suddenly, it hit me like a wave.
I wasn't detecting a lifeforce signature from either Phoebe or Cole...which meant they weren't real.
I got up and grinned. "Nice try, Barbas," I said smugly. "But I guess you didn't know about that particular power, did you? Besides," I said, fixing my eyes on the evil Phoebe standing in front of me, "I realize that Phoebe would never voluntarily turn evil again. Her inner goodness is too strong. That being said..." I gestured, and the Phoebe and Cole in front of me vanished. I quickly ran to the stairs.
However, I stopped short in the foyer, as I saw Piper doubled over in pain. "No, no, not the baby," Piper groaned.
"Come on, Piper, get up," I said, slipping her arm around my shoulders.
"What...Michael," she groaned. Suddenly, we heard Phoebe scream from upstairs.
"Looks like we do this the easy way," I said, flaming us to the attic stairs. We looked in to see Paige lying unconscious on the floor and Barbas raising an athame over a hysterical Phoebe.
Piper gestured and Barbas blew up, but reconstituted a moment later. "Playing on an expecting mother's fears," Piper spat as we walked into the room. "That was a good one...but not that good." Piper raised her hand again, but Barbas blurred out. However, at Piper's gesture, a few bricks disappeared from the wall, letting some light in.
"What happened?" Piper asked as we knelt next to Phoebe.
"I thought she was him," Phoebe sniffed.
"I've got her," I said. The healing light came forth. As I healed Paige's wound, I asked Phoebe, "What were you afraid of?"
"I'm evil," Phoebe said sadly.
"What?" I said, shocked. "No way, Phoebe. I've felt the good in you since I first met you. You are strong, Phoebe, much stronger than you think. You faced the darkness within yourself and came out clean, and that doesn't happen very often Phoebe. I don't believe for a second that you could make the choice to be evil again."
"But..." she tried to protest.
"No, not a chance in hell," Piper added. Suddenly, all the bricks vanished. "Leo!" Piper called. Leo orbed in with Cole just as I finished healing Paige.
I moved out of the way as Phoebe came closer. "Paige, you're ok, thank God," she said, pulling her into a hug.
"You guys ok?" I asked.
"Yeah," Leo said. "I'm glad the barricade came down. I was starting to think we might never get in here."
"Oh, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry," Phoebe apologized.
"You're suffocating me," Paige mock-complained.
"Oh, sorry," Phoebe said, giving Paige some breathing space.
As they stood up, Cole said, "Um, well, I hate to break this up, but Barbas will be back soon."
"I'm ready," Piper said.
"Are you?" Leo asked Cole.
"To take the evil back?" Cole questioned. "No...but I'm not doing it for me." He looked pointedly at Phoebe, who avoided his eyes.
"Maybe you won't have to," I whispered quietly. Suddenly, Barbas appeared and created a blast which knocked everyone else to their feet. Piper dropped the bottle of potion, spilling it on the floor.
"Miss me, my babies?" Barbas said with a sneer. Piper gestured to blow him up, but Barbas shook it off. "Oh, I'm a very quick study."
"Oh, yeah?" I challenged. "Then catch this!" I hurled a fireball at him, but to my utter shock, it deflected back at me. I barely managed to dodge it. "Damn!"
"Nice try, kid," Barbas said, "but like I said, I'm a quick study."
"What do we do?" Paige wondered.
"Ah, still alive, I see," Barbas remarked, noticing Paige.
"You leave her alone," Phoebe snarled at him.
Barbas gestured and made a wall that blocked us from Paige. "Naughty, naughty, naughty," Barbas admonished us. "Wait your turn."
"Paige, orb the potion!" Phoebe yelled.
"It's in a puddle," Paige pointed out.
"You can do it," Piper encouraged her. "Prue did."
"Ah, but there's the problem," Barbas said. "You're no Prue, are you?"
"Potion!" Paige called. The potion orbed onto Barbas, and he fell to his knees. I watched as the evil energy rose out of Barbas and Cole stepped forward, absorbing it into himself.
Barbas got up and tried to form an energy ball, but could not. Cole grinned evilly, forming an energy ball of his own. "Looking for this?" he said. Cole threw the energy ball at Barbas, who exploded a moment later. Cole looked over at Phoebe, and I saw a look of sadness come over his face as Phoebe took a step back from him. Cole blurred out a moment later.
Everyone let out a collective sigh of relief. "Well, I for one suggest that we definitely have fun tonight after all this," Piper said.
"Sounds good to me," Phoebe said happily. "I'm just going to go give Miles a call."
The smile on my face froze. Reality had just set back in, and I remembered that Phoebe was still not with me. "I think I'm just going to go home," I said. "I've got a lot of catching up to do with the company. Besides, it would be rather awkward to be in the same room with...him."
"Michael..." Phoebe started, but I raised a hand to stop her.
"I can't," I said. "I said I'd wait, and I will. But I never said anything about liking it." Before Phoebe could respond, I flamed out.
I tried to work that night, but I ended up looking at a wallet photo of Phoebe and me from our time in New York, brooding. Around 10:00 p.m., my phone rang. "Hello?" I said.
"Hi, it's Paige," the voice on the other end said.
"Hey," I said. "I wasn't expecting you to call. I mean, I figured you'd be down at the club with..."
"I know what you meant, Michael," Paige said. "I got your number out of the phone book. I wanted to say that I feel really bad for you. I mean, I know how much Phoebe means to you."
"I love her, Paige," I said. "I love her so much, and the fact that I'm not with her is killing me." I paused. "But, I told her I'd wait, and I will. Besides," I added, "I finally realized that I've been obsessing over her, and that isn't healthy, for her or for me. I have other responsibilities of my own to worry about...my Guardianship, running the company."
"With things like those to worry about, she'll be with you again before you know it," Paige encouraged me.
"Yeah, you're probably right," I said. "Thanks for calling, Paige. I really appreciate it."
"Take care, Michael," she said as she hung up.
I hung up the phone, feeling much better than before Paige had called. Somehow, I knew she was right: it was only a matter of time before Phoebe came back to me.
Of course, I had no idea then how I knew it. But, as it turned out, that was a consequence of another one of my powers that I'd soon discover fully in the near future...
TO BE CONTINUED...